Star Wars: Jedi Forces
by IanO
Summary: Takes place during clone wars between Ep2 and Ep3. During an outbreak of great galactic battle near the end of the Clone war, the Sith plan a trap for Anakin, using some one close to him as bait.
1. Chapter 1: Invasion

**STAR WARS**

**Jedi Forces**

**Chapter 1**

The Republic attack cruisers roared through space with thunderous echoes. The fleet approached the planet of Cato Neimoidia, stronghold of the Trade Federation. The massive triangle-shaped starships came down on the planet as one giant behemoth, positioned and ready for battle.

The command ship had a large, red strip painted right across the hull. The command deck was positioned at the back of the hull rising up from the rest of the flat ship. Inside the command deck, looking outside the main view screen, stood a Jedi in waiting, dressed all in black, with a head full of blonde hair and a scar down his eye.

Joining this Jedi on the main deck were two more Jedi: one, also a human, in brown robes with shorter hair and a beard covering his face, and a Kel Dor alien Jedi with a strangely wrinkled face whose mouth and eyes were covered by a metal antiox mask.

As the great fleet moved in, the Trade Federation ships took notice. Vulture droids and Tri-fighters buzzed around the large, crescent-shaped federation battleships. The droid fleet looked reluctant to meet their enemies, having never seen such a force accumulated against them here in Cato Neimoidia. The Republic continued to advance unceasingly.

"Master Koon, we are almost within attack range," one of the clone troopers on the ship deck reported.

"Good," Jedi Master Plo Koon said in a hollow voice underneath his mask, "We will inform the Jedi council."

Plo Koon walked a little ways off the deck towards a circular hologram table. The other two, the black-robed Anakin Skywalker and the brown-robed Obi-Wan Kenobi, joined him. They contacted the Jedi Council in Coruscant as the figures of the Jedi who made up that council popped up around the table in their blue, wavy holographic forms.

"Reach Cato Neimoidia have you?" spoke one of the holographic Jedi, the small, green leader of the council.

"Yes Master Yoda," Obi-Wan informed them, "The fleet has arrived. By the end of the day we should have Viceroy Gunray in custody."

"What does the resistance look like?" asked another on the council, a powerful looking black man.

"The planet is well-protected," Obi-Wan said, "However, I do not believe the Trade Federation expected a fleet of this magnitude to attack them."

"Gentlemen, if we can capture the viceroy, it will heavily disable the Trade Federation and bring a huge victory to our side in the war."

"Yes Master Windu," Anakin Skywalker now spoke, "We will not fail you."

"We are almost in position," Master Koon said after one of the clone troopers spoke into his ear."

"The dark side I sense with you," Master Yoda warned them, "Be wary inside young Jedis."

"Good luck and may the Force be with you," Master Windu said as the holograms flickered out.

On one of the other command ships of the Republic fleet, Jedi Master Kit Fisto stood on his ship's deck. He was a strange looking being; green skinned with large black eyes and had a full head of long, green tentacles instead hair. He wore tan-coloured robes.

"Master Fisto, it's the fleet command ship," his clone trooper said, handing him the handheld hologram device. The image of Obi-Wan Kenobi popped up.

"Master Fisto, we are in position," he spoke, "Anakin will lead the arc fighters to break through their defense and break on through to the Federation buildings on the surface. You should be able to follow him with your troops."

Master Fisto flashed a very large smile to show that he was ready.

"On the other side of the fleet in another command ship, Jedi Master Shaak Ti stood very much the same way Master Fisto did on the opposite side of the fleet in her own ship. She was a very colourful being with a red painted face and body. Her head was oddly shaped, with two large tendrils running long each side. At the top the tendrils were white and thick, coming to points at the ends. On the bottom they were banded with white and black stripes and were skinnier. Her face was

Her own clone trooper handed her a hologram device and again the image of Obi-Wan Kenobi came up telling her the same information.

"We must move fast," he added, "We cannot allow Viceroy Gunray to have time to hid or escape. Anakin should be able to break through the lines quickly."

"Excellent," Shaak Ti answered, "And I'll be right behind him."

"May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you and with Anakin," she answered.

"They are coming too close!" One of the large, green Neimoidians complained to his captain on the nearest Federation battle cruiser.

"Very well," the nervous looking captain responded, "Attack!"

Outside the ships, numerous vulture droids, with their metallic leg –like wings and sleek heads with red eyes, jumped into action and took flight. A large swarm of them moved towards the imposing fleet of Republic ships which bore down on them.

"Alright, its show time," Anakin said under his breath as he watched the swarm of Federation fighters approach, "I'll see you on the surface."And with a quick smile to Obi-Wan, he ran from the deck down to the docking bay where his yellow Jedi starfighter awaited him.

"Alright Captain Carsk, ready for some flying?" he asked the clone pilot who stood by.

"Yes Master Skywalker, we wont let you down," the trooper said in the stoic voice these clone usually used.

Anakin hopped into his cockpit. Beside him on the wing, the small, blue and white astromech droid who sat right inside the wing beeped and whirred.

"Ready Artoo?" he asked.

R2-D2 gave a resounding beep which told Anakin his answer.

"So am I. Let's go."

With that, the starfighter took off and zoomed out of the dock, with a whole unit of red and white, x-winged arc fighters behind him. They sped forward ready to meet the swarm of vulture droid which awaited them. The Battle of Cato Neimoidia was soon to begin.


	2. Chapter 2: Battle of Cato Nemoidia

**Chapter 2**

The ships crashed upon each other like waves on rocks. Anakin flew straight through the first few ships, firing his lasers into the crowd. He swung his starfighter up, spiraling above the two dueling battalions of ships. He turned his ship around and pointed with his nose pointing down at the ships, speeding back down sending off his guns. He took outs at least four vulture droid fighters before flying back into the midst of the fighting. He was immediately covered at both wings by two arc fighters.

The clone pilot on his left was immediately blown away by an incoming Tri-fighter. Anakin took aim and shot it down.

"Tri-fighter squads closing in on both flanks," he announced on the com system.

"We see them," Captain Carsk acknowledged as two groups of arc-fighters pulled off from the main group to meet these new forces.

A rain of laser blasts poured into the squads of Tri-fighters, causing almost all of them to exploded and drop out of the cluster. Anakin stayed with the central group of arc fighters and took aim at every vulture droid which passed in front of it.

Obi-Wan approached his own star fighter on the docking bay of the command ship. Behind him clone troopers here loading onto a number of Republic gunships.

"Are we ready commander Cody?" he asked the clone trooper standing at the first gunship.

"Yes, General Kenobi. Ready to deploy."

"Anakin," Obi-Wan's voice came over the com system, "The convoys are ready."

"Alright, all ships to me. We're heading in," Anakin announced.

The arc troopers in Anakin's squad pooled together, joined by two other squads from the other command ships. They positioned themselves in an arrowhead formation, with Anakin's yellow starfighter at the point.

"You ready for this Artoo?" he asked his droid with a smile. R2-D2 responded with a whir and a whistle.

The squad flew very tightly together now and charged towards the planet with full force. Laser guns fired off in a heavy stream before them, shooting down any enemy ships that got in their way.

The barrage of arc fighters created a hole in the separatists defense of the planet. Obi-wan used this hole to lead his ground troops on their gunships through towards the planet. A stream of gunships followed after Anakin and his fighter squad. Two more caravans of gun ships joined these; one led my Kit Fisto and the other by Shaak Ti, both of whom were riding inn the lead gunship.

"Follow tight," Anakin reminded them over the com. He spun his ship around twice and spiraled down towards the planet surface. The arc fighters followed, as did the gun ships. Vulture droids attacked the stream of ships from the side and managed to shoot down a couple of gunships.

"Blue squad, help us out!" Anakin called.

About a dozen clone pilots came out to help them, taking out the vulture droids which still clung to the pack. The Blue Squad fighters circled around the flow of Republic ships in a protective spiral, shooting down any droid ships coming near it.

"Droid control ship to the left," Captain Carsk warned Anakin.

"I see it. Captain, stay on course to the planet. I'll take care of it."

"Anakin, you can't take on a ship like that by yourself, don't be foolish," bi-Wan warned him.

"Of course I can, you know me better than that," Anakin grinned as he talked into the com, "I've done it before, remember." Anakin thought far back to when he was a young boy, flying with the Naboo pilots against the Trade Federation. He had managed to destroy a ship very much like this one.

Anakin broke off from the pack and zoomed over to the control ship. Torrents of droid fighters came from the ring-shaped control ship. Anakin flew straight towards them like a madman.

"Hold on Artoo," he said as he strained his face, yanking down on the controls. His starfighter made a direct turn upwards just before he met the droid fighters. The droids tied to follow him but they couldn't manage a maneuver like that one. Many of the ships crashed into each other, or simply had their circuits fail in the attempt and coiled off into space.

Anakin pulled straight back down, approaching the ship from above. He fired his guns, taking out the remaining droid fighters left as guards. The sent off two rocket blasters which hit the docking bay shield generators at the open end of the ring formation on the control ship. The shield was blown to bits.

"Just like old times Artoo," Anakin joked as he flew straight inside the Federation ship.

He shot streams of lasers down the deck of the ship, taking out a number of battle droids and vulture droids who were waiting there.

"Okay, hold on," he gripped his controls, sending off two more rockets. These rockets blew a hole straight into the wall ahead, right below the main deck of the ship. Anakin decided to take his ships straight through the hole he had just created. He flew through the wreckage just as it was all about to collapse.

"Arggggg, hold on!"

Artoo whirred fiercely in a very high pitch.

They just made it out onto the other side of the ship to the other docking bay. They continued to curve around, making a full loop throughout the entire interior of the control ship. The structure of the ship behind them was collapsing. Fireballs were being sent off. Anakin stared straight ahead, focusing on the exit. Artoo suddenly beeped at him in a panic. Anakin looked down at the translator screen to see what he was saying.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot."

Anakin sent off two more rockets to take out the second shield don the second bay doors. He continued flying out of the ship as the fire balls consumed the bay behind him. He shot out and sailed to space, leaving the damaged Federation control ship bleeding behind him.

"Cheers erupted from the Republic ships over the com system. Anakin joined back up with the group, pulled up to take the lead again.

"Alright. No problems. Let's take this party down."

"You're pushing your luck," Obi-wan shook his head in his cockpit, but couldn't help but laugh also.

The cluster of ships were now clear of the droid defenses and were entering the atmosphere.

"Lock on to the Federation headquarters."

The planet was a mystic looking planet. It was covered with tall tors, with lots of mist hanging off of them. The cities of Cato Neimoidia sat massive suspended bridges hung between the peaks of the mountains. They were truly an architectural wonder.

Anakin and his ships now flew over many of the wonders, passing the cities by in hopes to reach the capitol city of the Trade Federation. But they would not reach it so easily. A guard of tri-fighters was waiting for them as they approached.

"Spread out!" Anakin ordered as the arc fighters broke off from their formation and engaged the tri-fighters one-on-one.

As the arc fighters tied up the tri-fighters in their dogfights, the gun ships were able to pass over the battle and continue on to the capitol city.

"Keep control of things here Captain," Anakin said as he guided the gunships away from the battle."

"Yes, General Skywalker," Captain Carsk replied.

Anakin led them to the city finally. The Federation headquarters was a giant building, sitting on its own bridge, hanging almost directly above the actual city, which needed two bridges to contain it.

"Don't expect a warm welcome," Anakin said over the com as they flew towards the gargantuan, city-long bridge. Ion cannons from the building fired at the ships and managed to take out one of the gunships, which tumbled down into the depths of the planet below, disappearing into the mist.

Anakin and Obi-Wan flew their starfighters ahead towards the building. They each fired their rockets at the ion cannons. Both hit their targets and explosions went up from the base of the central building.

"Alright, bring them in!" Obi-Wan called to the gunships. Anakin and Obi-Wan landed their starfighters on the large courtyard in front of the extremely tall Federation headquarters. A group of battle droids guarding the entrance ran with their skinny legs towards these invaders but were quickly taken out by the quick light of the two blue lightsabers.

The gunships started landing in droves, filling the entire courtyards. The new group of droid guards were quickly outnumbered and a battle began almost immediately as the clone troopers rushed out of the sides of thee gunships to blow the droids away.

The four Jedis now grouped together in the midst of the clone troopers.

"Alright, now we find the Viceroy. He should be in the headquarters somewhere. Let's bring the droids to help us locate him," Obi-Wan suggested.

"Commander!" Anakin called out to Commander Cody, "The doors please!."

Commander Cody made hand motions to two of the clones near him. They took out a hand-held laser cannon from the nearest gun ship and set themselves up, one kneeling down with the cannon over his shoulder, the other behind taking the controls. The cannon fired towards the base of the big, black metal blast doors. Another explosion hit the other side. The doors automatically opened up to the sides.

"Let's go."

Anakin ran towards the opened blast doors, followed by his old master Obi-Wan and their two other Jedi companions, Kit Fisto and Shaak Ti. R2 and R4 wheeled behind along with a guard of about twelve clone troopers as the other remained engaged in battle.


	3. Chapter 3: Cato Nemoidia

**Chapter 3**

The four Jedi stepped confidently over the threshold of the Trade Federation headquarters, leaving the sounds and blasts of battle behind them in the courtyard. The lobby of the building was eerily quiet and empty.

"Wait," Shaak Ti held her hand out to the others, motioning for them to listen.

Sure enough the other Jedi heard what sounded like metal rolling along the ground.

"Destroyers," Obi-Wan identified them, "Sounds like four."

The Jedi leapt into action just as the destroyer droids were rolling their way around the corners into the lobby, two from each side. All of the Jedis swung quickly at the destroyer droids, trying to strike them down while they were still in their rolling position and before they could get their shields up.

Anakin rolled on the ground underneath his droid, slicing it through with his lightsaber. Shaak Ti leapt in the air and brought down her saber on the droid beside it, slicing it in half right down the center. On the other side of the room, the droids were further away and were already pulling out of their rolling positions into their standing positions. Obi-wan leapt forward slicing off the legs of one of the droids individually before pushing his blade down through the top of the droids head. Kit Fisto was not so lucky, he managed to take out one leg on his droid, but it still managed to get its shield up.

However, the droid didn't last long. All four of the Jedis soon ganged up on it, deflecting its blaster shots while closing in around it. Kit Fisto then leapt in the air, striking the droid's shield with so much force, it faltered just long enough for the other three to hack it to pieces.

"Alright, good," Obi-Wan said calmly as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"There's a socket over there," Anakin pointed to a panel on the wall, "Artoo, plug in and see if it has the Viceroy's location."

Artoo wheeled over to the wall, plugged into the socket, and made a lot of whirring noises as his round head sup around on his body. A hologram device came out of one of his compartments and showed a schematic of the Viceroy's location.

"This must be the Viceroy's chamber," Obi-Wan followed the map, "There look to be about five routes of escape for him there. We should be able to split up and close in on him."

"Good job Artoo. Go wait by the ships with R4 and be ready to get them started if we need them," Anakin ordered as he handed Artoo a comlink.

Artoo beeped obscenely as he gripped the com with a claw hand coming from his main compartment.

"I don't want to hear it. We'll manage without you. Just go wait by the ship," Anakin scolded him, yet couldn't help but smile at the little droid's eagerness.

"You promised me the battle would not come here!" Viceroy Gunray raged in his whiny, Neimoidian voice, "They are in the headquarters!"

"Don't worry, viceroy, don't worry," came the deep, calming voice of Count Dooku, "I promised that I would protect you. Why do you think I'm here?"

"You knew they would attack Cato Neimoidia! You knew it!"

"I suspected they would come for you sooner or later, yes," the Count nodded, "This is war after all, Viceroy."

The tall, green, frog-like Gunray turned from the regal-looking, white-haired Sith lord to another man who was in the room. He was tall himself, with green scaly skin. He looked very reptilian and even had a long, wide tail which went down to the ground. He wore a suit of black and gold armor. His eyes were large and yellow.

"Do something!" Gunray complained to him.

"Don't worry, reinforcements are on the way," the lizard-like man said in a cool voice.

"General Crang will make sure the clones do not make themselves too comfortable here, do not worry Viceroy," Count Dooku reassured him.

"Sir! Jedi are in the building! They are on their way here!" said one of Gunray's Neimoidian servants.

"Jedi!" the Viceroy exclaimed, "Hurry! Lock the hallways! Use the distributor mechanism!"

The Neimoidian servant went over to one of the control panel and pressed some buttons. The display on the screen showed a map of the buildings interior. As she pressed the buttons, the hallways to the chamber were highlighted in red and switched. They were actually changing the entire interior of the hallways, closing down the old routes and opening new ones.

The four Jedi split up and took the different routes to the Viceroy's chamber. Anakin ran through the hallway, so far uncontested by any droid forces. He knew he was getting closer, and the fact that the halls were so far empty worried him.

Then ahead on the hallways, he saw a large, blast wall coming down, blocking off the route. Anakin ran with full speed to make it under the blast door, but didn't make it in time. He blast wall came down with a thud. Behind the door he heard a lot of scrapping and moving. He took his blue lightsaber and thrusted it straight into the blast wall, causing the metal around it to melt. But the wall was too thick.

"Damn it, Artoo was right. I guess I did need him after all."

He looked around and saw a vent grate above him. He swung his lightsaber over the grate, blasting it open. He then took a standing leap up into the vent.

Obi-Wan met yet another closed off hallway. He had been running all over this building looking for a way to get back on course to the Viceroy's chamber, but all of the routes were being blocked off.

"They're changing the hallways," he said to himself as he stroked his beard, "They're turning this place into a maze."

Obi-Wan stood silently for a moment, meditating like his old master once taught him. A pause in your thoughts, old Qui-Gon once said, would allow the ideas to come to you.

Finally the idea came. Obi-Wan snapped his fingers and ran back the way he came.

Anakin ducked through the ventilation shafts. He could guess what direction he was going, but didn't know for sure. Outside he could hear a lot of blasters and marching droids. The armies were finally coming after them.

Obi-Wan ran down another hallway. Blocked again. The halls were shifting and the complex had now become a maze. Three was no way he could know how to reach the Viceroy now.

The sound of the battle droids marching in some nearby hallway suddenly threw an idea in Obi-Wan's head. Of course. He ran off, listening closely to find the source of the marching steps.

The skinny, tan-coloured battle droid marched down the corridor, triple file. They held their blasters in their skinny, clamp-like hands. Inn front of the troop marched a single battle droid with red markings on his shoulders and face, showing that he was in charge of the security force.

Out of no where, the Jedi flew from the air into the middle of the droids. A quick blue flash took down four of the battle droids. The others quickly turned to face their attacker. But before Obi-Wan could react any further, the droids saw that he no longer held his lightsaber and held him at blaster point. Obi-Wan lifted his arms up in surrender.

Before he knew it, the command droid had called in reinforcements. Two more troops of security droids came around the corner, as well as four destroyer droids, who rolled into the center of the droids, and repositioned themselves around their Jedi prisoner.

"I surrender," Obi-Wan said simply, not sounding at all distressed.

Anakin heard a large commotion somewhere up ahead. He ran through the ventilation shaft as best he could, keeping his head ducked down and his gripping lightsaber close in his hand. He heard the mechanical feet of battle droids beneath him and looked down through a nearby grate. There were about forty battle droids and a couple destroyers struggling to keep up with their tiny peg legs behind them. In the middle of all these droids he saw the familiar tan robes of his partner and once-master.

They had caught Obi-Wan. There were a lot of them, but he knew he could get his friend from their grips, if he took them by surprise. He ran ahead, keeping his footsteps light and silent, as only a Jedi could. He positioned himself directly over the larger part of the droid security force. Then he took his lightsaber, turned it on, and slowly began to carve a large circle in the floor of the vent shaft beneath him.

A large, metal sheet suddenly fell on three of the droids escorting their Jedi prisoner. Almost immediately after, a man in a black, Jedi uniform shot down and swing is lightsaber around rapidly, taking out every droid nearby the newly made hole in the ventilation shaft above.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan screamed as his former padawan sliced through droid after droid.

Anakin moved with such speed that the other droids couldn't get a clear shot at him. Any that tried had their blaster shots deflected straight back to them.

After almost all of the skinny battle droids were taken out, the larger destroyers rolled to the foreground. Obi-Wan decided he should help out his partner despite appearing strangely annoyed with him. He reached into his robes and pulled his own lightsaber out, taking out two of the destroyers before they could pull up their shields.

The other destroyer droids had taken their positions with both their personal force fields surrounding them. Anakin and Obi-Wan stood together as they deflected the blaster shots right back towards the droids, eventually wearing down their shields. It only took a few more shots to take the droids out completely.

Anakin looked around at the aftermath of the fight, admiring the broken, shock-exuding pieces of droid metal lying all over the ground, and smiled. He twirled his lightsaber in his fingers and clipped it back onto his belt.

"What the blazes do you think your doing?" Obi-Wan reprimanded Anakin, causing him to shift his expression from satisfaction to surprise.

"What do you mean what was I doing? I was saving you of course! Did you see the amount of droids they had on you?"

"I assure you I was perfectly fine," Obi-wan shook his head, "I allowed myself to be caught so that they would lead me straight to the Viceroy! With the hallways all locked down, I reckoned it was the best way to find him!"

"I, oh," Anakin stumbled, "Well you could have let me in on your little scheme."

Obi-Wan sighed. "Well, it doesn't matter now. We're back where we started."

"You know, I had to take out about forty droids here. You could at least thank me."

Obi-Wan looked back to his friend and couldn't help but laugh.

"Very well. Now let's go find the Viceroy. Together this time."

So the two Jedi continued on down the corridor of the Trade Federation Headquarters, leaving the rubble of battle droid parts smoldering behind them.


	4. Chapter 4: Trade Federation Headquarters

**Chapter 4**

"What are we going to do? They are going to find us!" Nute Gunray whined to Count Dooku. But the old Sith lord looked very calm and not at all worried.

"Fear not, Viceroy. I have taken the possibility of an invasion on your planet into consideration. General Grievous has a refuge for you and the other separatist leaders Not far from here."

"General Grievous," Gunray grunted, "Droid scum. But how will we escape here? There are four Jedi in the building, and we're surrounded by these clones?"

"Leave that to me," General Crang declared confidently.

"They will follow us!" Gunray complained again, always looking for the worst possible scenario, as the coward he was.

"We shall split direction," Dooku suggested, "You shall come with me to General Grievous' secret base. General Crang shall go in the opposite direction to his own troops on Felucia. We shall split their forces."

Nute Gunray looked from the tall, old count and the lizard-like general, shaking his large, amphibious head in doubt. Just then he could hear the sounds of blasters and the whirring of lightsabers approaching nearer.

"Alright! Let's get out of here!"

Obi-Wan and Anakin came to a larger opening in the hallways, making a foyer from which four more paths dissected. There they met the other two Jedi, Kit Fisto and Shaak Ti along with a couple clone troopers.

"We are getting close I believe," Obi-Wan said, "The Viceroy should be on the other side of these walls. Let's move it."

But just then they heard a loud commotion. Blaster fire came from what sounded like the other clone troopers who entered the building with them.

"He's trying to escape!" Anakin realized, "But I don't think he's alone."

"I feel it too," Obi-Wan nodded. Kit Fisto also nodded his large green head.

"I also sense it," Shaak Ti said, "What is it?"

Anakin looked towards his former master meaningfully. "Dooku." They had faced the old Sith lord before, and if it weren't for Master Yoda they would have both been crushed that fateful day on Geonosis.

"We'll have to be careful," Obi-Wan said. The Four Jedi and their clone escorts ran towards the source of the uproar.

The clone troopers ran towards the door of the central command room inside the Trade Federation headquarters building, anticipating that the Viceroy would make a desperate attempt at an escape. But what they did not expect to see when the blast doors of the room opened was a bright, glowing red blade sweeping out to meet them.

Dooku burst out to meet the tactical troopers, swiping down two with his lightsaber immediately and blocking all of the blaster shots coming from the other eight. The next two went down due to their own blaster shots being deflected back to them.

Dooku then paused for a moment, and so did the troopers, simply out of awe of seeing so mighty a dark lord before them. He them glared back at him with his hard and wizened gaze, and sprung. He sailed into the air, spiraling head first into the Republic soldiers. Two he sliced through the belly with a quick swipe of his blade, then wheeling around and taking off the head of another.

"Get him!" called out the leader of the squad in vain. The red Sith blade was too quick for them. The other three were quickly taken out in a blur of red glow and whirring noise.

"Come," the powerful count called to his company behind him.

The Neimoidian Viceroy slowly and cowardly came out of the room, followed by the much more confident looking General Crang and many of his guards. They were of the same reptilian-like species as Crang, dressed in royal blue armor and armed with incredibly large blasters.

"General Crang, you know the plan," Dooku addressed him, "Good luck."

When the Jedis reached the site of the recent battle all they found were the bodies of the ten downed clone troopers and a barrage of fire coming from General Crang's guards who were already running down the opposite corridor.

"They're getting away!" Anakin called out, leading the chase after them.

The Jedi warriors dashed after their targets, flailing their lightsabers in front of them in order to repel the oncoming blaster shots being fired on them. Anakin quickly outran the other three and was the first one to meet up with the reptilian guards. He took both of them down with only one wide swing of his blade.

But ahead he could see no one else. They were already too far ahead.

"They must have gotten to the lower level," Obi-Wan suggested as he caught up to his former padawan.

"They'll be making for the hanger," said Anakin, "We'll have to beat them there, before they get away."

So the four Jedis rushed to the nearest elevator to get to the ground level.

"We may get there too late you know," Obi-Wan said.

"Yeah," Anakin nodded as he took out a comlink from his pocket.

"Artoo, you read me?" he spoke into the comlink. On the other end he could hear angry beeping with a lot of battle noise in the background.

"Get the ship read to go. And tell R4 to do the same. Okay?"

Artoo beeped in agreement and Anakin put he comlink back as the lift stooped on the ground floor and opened up.

"The hanger must be on the other side of this building," Obi-Wan reckoned, waving Kit Fisto and Shaak Ti to follow him and Anakin, "Come on!

The hanger opened up to the back part of the city on the opposite side of the fighting. The end of the city bridge was right outside the lip of the hanger as the bridge swung high over the abyss below.

Count Dooku hurried the Viceroy over to his Solar Sailer which sat on the left side of the hanger. It was a glossy, brownish-gold colour and shaped like a seed. The ramp was already down for them.

"Get in! Hurry!" Dooku ordered as the large, clumsy Neimoidian shuffled inside.

On the other end of the hanger, General Crang and a few of his guards entered his own ship, which was of similar size to Dooku's but oval shaped and dark green.

Anakin, Obi-Wan and the other Jedis ran into the hanger just in time to see them both lifting off and pulling away.

"Trackers!" Obi-Wan called to Anakin. They both grabbed small, disc-shaped devices from their belts and ran to the edge of the hanger bay doors. They each threw their tracker discs at each of the ships just before they took off.

"Great!' Anakin called out sarcastically, "They're going in different directions! And we don't know who is in each ship!"

"We'll have to split up," Obi-Wan planned, "You take master Fisto and follow the ship which went to the right. I'll take Shaak Ti and go after the other."

"Are you sure you can handle it without me?" Anakin smiled smugly.

"Oh, I think I can manage," Obi-Wan answered as he flashed one of his trademark smiles, "But we'd better get moving or we'll lose them."

Anakin ran back to Kit Fisto and Obi-Wan ran to Shaak Ti and they explained their plan. Then all four of them ran out of the hanger and back to the courtyard of the building where the clone troopers were still engaged with the Neimoidian forces.

"Ready Artoo?" Anakin called to the little droid, who was already seated in the ship's wing, as he ran towards the ship. Anakin jumped into the cockpit and immediately took off front the courtyard, turning to the right of the capitol city.

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan's red starfighter turned the opposite way to the left of the great, bridge-seated city. He contacted Master Plo Koon who was still above the planet in the Central Command Ship.

"Master Koon, we must leave in pursuit of Dooku and the Viceroy," he explained, "You'll have to take control of the assault on your own."

The masked Jedi Master nodded to Obi-Wan through his holographic image.

"May the Force be with you," he spoke in an echoed voice.

Shaak Ti and Kit Fisto had rounded up about a dozen troops each and were now following each of the other two Jedis in one of their gunships.

Outside of the planets atmosphere, the barrage of Republic ships sat. Each of the large, V-shaped ships on either end of the barricade released two hyperspace transport rings from their dock bays. Anakin flew straight into the center of one of the small ones, attached it to his starfighter, and burst off in a blast into hyperspace. Behind him, attaching to the larger ring, flew Kit Fisto's gunship, following into lightspeed directly behind him.

On the other end of the barricade, Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti performed the same maneuver. They had left the assault of Cato Neimoidia behind them. Anakin and Obi-Wan had no choice but to separate, and now neither knew exactly whom it was that they were pursuing.


	5. Chapter 5: A Fork in the Road

**Chapter 5**

Obi-Wan shot through hyperspace in his starfighter, following Dooku's ship.

"R4, still got a hold on that tracker signal?"

R4 whistled in answer.

"Is Master Ti still behind us?"

Another whistle.

"Good. Just keep a source on that signal. They have to land somewhere."

The white streaks, which once were stars, whizzed by. They were flying far out into the outer rim of the galaxy, probably to some separatist stronghold. But capturing the Trade Federation Viceroy, and possibly General Crang or even Count Dooku was well worth the risk in Obi-Wan's mind.

"Master Kenobi, are you still tracking them?" Shaak Ti's voice asked over the com system.

"We're still in range."

R4 then whistled to get his attention. Obi-Wan looked at the translation screen to see what he had said.

"It looks like they're approaching the Hoth system."

"The Hoth system? Alright. I'll get the troops ready."

"We'll begin our landing," replied Obi-Wan as he pulled out of hyperspace. Before him, a large white planet came into view. The massive white swirls covering the entire surface were indicator enough to tell him exactly what was on this particular planet.

"Oh great. Snow."

Blasting out into the opposite direction of space, Anakin chased the green, oval ship with Kit Fisto and his gunship full of clone troopers following as quickly behind as they could.

"Can you tell where he's going, Artoo?" Anakin asked his trusty astromech droid. Artoo beeped energetically.

"Hmm, yeah, that's what it looks like. That would make sense if we're chasing Crang," Anakin spoke aloud to himself, "He has most of his troops there."

He reached over and turned on the comlink system to communicate with the gunship. "Master Fisto, our pursuit looks to be leading us to Felucia. Isn't Aayla Secura leading the offensive there?"

"She is," the green, aquatic Jedi answered back in his wispy voice."

"Well, I'm sure she'll be glad to have us."

They sailed towards a brightly coloured planet, full of life-injected colours of blues, greens and oranges. The hues swirled together over the planet, sending off a ethereal glow.

Anakin's yellow starfighter now entered the Felucian atmosphere and was immediately hailed over the comlink.

"Commander Skywalker," spoke one of the cloned voices of the troopers on the command center on the ground, "This is a pleasant surprise."

"Yeah, thought we'd drop on by," Anakin answered, "Inform Commander Secura of our arrival."

"Yes sir."

Below Anakin, as he slowed his ship and lowered altitude, he could see a buzz of activity in and among the strangely shaped plants which covered the ground level of the planet. Giant, blob-like vegetation popped up all over the place, showing off all of the colours seen from the reaches of space. Among this lush, exotic plant-life moved many Republic Troopers coming and going to a central complex built in simple silver steel, barely to be seeing with the explosion of landscape around it.

The complex had a wide, round base with a watch tower coming up from the center so that it could see over the high, bulbous flora. Anakin now swung his starfighter overtop of the busy Republic Command Center and came in for his landing. Not too far behind him came Kit Fisto's gunship full of republic Troopers itself.

Aayla Secura ran up to the command center after hearing word that Anakin Skywalker had come. She had only been a Jedi Knight for a few years, but the council had much faith in her. They had put her in charge of the assault against the Separatist forces of Felucia. She had grown very fond of this normally peaceful planet and vowed to protect it at all costs.

The blue-skinned Twi'lek warrior approached the new convoy of Republic troops which had just landed. She was wearing as short brown top which revealed most of her belly and cleavage and also wore a brown leather headband around her face and tendrils. She was greeted by Anakin and Master Fisto.

"This is a surprise," he said joyfully, "I can always use more help here."

"You'll need it even more now. General Crang has just arrived to help his troops. We've been following him from Cato Neimoidia," Anakin informed her.

"We've had enough trouble here without Crang," she shook her head, "A lot of his Gammon troops are here, as well as droids. And with their General, they'll fight even harder."

"If we move swiftly enough, we can stop him before he can make an impact or get too secure," Anakin assured her, "We can still track him. We know where he landed. We may still have time to capture him."

The Jedi beauty nodded with determination. "Then let's move out."

Meanwhile, at the Separatist base, General Crang was welcomed by his troops, many were of his own lizard-like Gammon species. He was a hero to them. He planned on winning them their freedom from the restrictive hold by the Senate, and they loved him for it.

"General Crang, welcome back," One of his officers approached him, "It is good to see you here."

"How is the campaign?"

"Going well, though the Republic has a strong foothold to the south."

"They will soon be on our trail I'm afraid, Commander Frosk. We must move deeper into our own territory," he ordered, "I assume we have deeper strongholds to the north?"

"Yes sir, hidden from the air," he nodded, "But if we knew you were coming we would have directed you to them."

"Well no matter," Crang brushed it off, "We will go there now. Prepare an escort for me. And assemble the men in defensive position. The Jedi will be close behind."

Anakin led the charge through the neon jungle of Felucia, followed by Aayla Secura, Kit Fisto, and a few dozen clone troopers. R2-D2 trailed at Anakin's heels, tracking the signal still being emitted from Crang's ship.

It wasn't long until they saw a unit of battle droids standing guard underneath the large, bulbous fungal plants. The droid commander called to his base to warn them of the approaching Republic army.

Artoo began whistling furiously beside Anakin. Anakin turned to him and nodded. He didn't need his ship's translator to know what he was saying.

"What's your droid doing?" Aayla asked behind them.

"Crang is close, very close."

With that Anakin flared up his blue lightsaber, and the two Jedi behind him did the same.

"Forward!" he cried to the troops as they all began running straight towards the battle droids.

The droids braced for the impact, hurrying on their skinny legs to form a defensive line against their clone attackers. But they couldn't form it fast enough. The Republic charge broke upon them, the three Jedi blades slicing the droids down.

Ahead, many droid vehicles had turned their course and were now facing the Republic threat. More battle droids, along with super battle droids and destroyer droids were running towards them underneath the plumage of Felucia. The battle had begun.


	6. Chapter 6: Felucia

**Chapter 6**

General Crang Stood atop a Separatist walker droid, a large, six-legged structure with a driver in the head and two blaster cannons coming out from underneath. Crang looked through his electrobinoculars to see the oncoming Republic army, led by the three Jedi.

"Alright, looks like we are going to have to deal with them before we can reach the outpost," he called to his commander below on the soft Felucia ground, "Move all troops towards them. Whatever happens, do not let the Jedi through. Especially the human one."

"Yes, General Crang," the reptilian commander replied as he went to give the orders.

Anakin led the Republic troops straight on into a wave of battle droids and Gammon warriors, causing a flurry of action. Droid parts flew from their bodies as the lightsabers of the three Jedi knights went into action. The Gammons sent the droids first as a shield against the primary attack. The blaster guns of the clone troopers fired round upon round of blaster fire into the droid lines, but each droid that fell, another came behind.

Two destroyer droids came through the ranks towards the front, flanking Anakin on either side. Anakin saw them both and leapt into the air, causing both of the droids to roll past each other underneath him. But just as they were crossing, he landed again, bringing his lightsaber blade straight down into the ground, causing a blow which knocked both destroyer droids off balance. With two large sweeps, he chopped both droids straight through their middles.

Behind Anakin, Aayla Secura and Kit Fisto were both leading units, slicing down any droids who met their path. Weaving in and out of the troops was the small, feisty Artoo, desperately trying to keep up with his master who was by now rushing much further ahead than him army.

"Anakin!" Aayla called out to him, "Don't go out so far!"

But Anakin didn't heed her calls, rushing through the droid army even faster.

"He's cut off from us!" Aayla called to her clone commander, "Take six men and catch up if you can."

The commander nodded to his blue, Jedi general and motioned to his men, pointing up. The six clone troopers each took grappling guns from their belts and fired upwards, onto the top of a large, bulbous blue plant. The men ascended upwards quickly, landing onto the wobbly surface of the plant.

"Let's move," the commander ordered. The six men ran on top of the fungal treetops, making good headway to catch up with Anakin.

Anakin had now reached the lines of Gammon warriors. The lizard-like soldiers braced for impact as the fiery, young Jedi crashed into their front line, moving far too quickly for them to reach him with their blasters.

Anakin whirled around in a circle, deflecting blaster shots which ricocheted into the Gammons around him. But the enemy soldiers were relentless and Anakin had no backup. He was in over his head and he soon realized it. Suddenly, a blaster shot hit him in the middle of his mechanical hand, knocking his lightsaber out of his grip. Before he could locate his weapon, another shot was med at him. Without thinking, Anakin turned and held out his hand, blocking the laser shot with a shield of air.

Anakin looked at his own palm, stunned. He had never used the Force to do something like that before. He had never even seen it done. But before he could marvel too greatly on his own abilities, he quickly had to do it again, and again as the attack pressed on. The circle around him was closing.

Anakin cried out in desperation as he franticly put up his Force shields to block the shots. But he was losing control. It wouldn't be long before a shot got through.

Suddenly, the six clone troopers rocketed down from the plant tops on ropes, mowing down the Gammons around Anakin. Anakin acted quickly, locating his lightsaber and once again striking down his enemies with its glowing blue blade.

"Thanks commander," he nodded with relief.

"No problem, General Skywalker," the white-helmeted solder nodded back.

"Look!" Anakin suddenly called out, catching movement out of the corner of his eye, "It's General Crang!"

He pointed over towards a ridge beyond three towering green stems of globular plants. There the Gammon general was being escorted way from the battle.

"Now I've got you," Anakin said with a sly grin of satisfaction growing on his face.

"Commander Jub!" General Crang called to his Gammon commander.

"Yes, General Crang?"

""How far till we reach the outpost?"

"We're ten minutes away. We have an escort waiting there for you to take you to the fifth sector of the planet, well out of the reach of their army."

"Good. We'll sacrifice the outpost and regroup in the fifth sector. We have a much larger force there."

"Here they come!" called another of Crang's escort. Crang looked through the coloured jungle to see the raging figure of Anakin Skywalker racing towards him.

"Do we have droidekas close?"

"No sir," the commander replied, "But a unit of STAP fighters are near."

"Send them out quickly."

Anakin stormed ahead with the separatist general in sight. But as he came to a clearing of the vivid plant-life, a unit of battle droids riding their Single Troop Aerial Platforms. The one-unit vehicles had a small foot platform connected with a long base with controls at the handles and two large blaster guns on the front.

There were about thirty of the STAPs flying in an attack formation. They took down two of the clone troopers immediately and soon had the others in retreat. Anakin stood his guard, fending off their lasers with his lightsaber, but also realized he was overrun as another thirty came over the ridge.

But just as they were about to be overtaken, Aayla Secura flew from out of the wild, vibrant shrubs with her saber wielded. Behind her came a whole unit of Clone troopers who blasted away at the mounted droids. The STAP units scattered as the Republic forces once again gained the upper hand.

Anakin met Aayla in the midst of the battle, with Artoo wheeling up behind.

"Crang's escaping, we have to hurry!"

He led them all over the ridge in pursuit of their target. Aayla followed closely behind him, leading a string of troopers. Artoo hurried as fast as his wheels could take him along side everyone.

"They're closing on us General!"

"Take a small unit to the ridge to slow them down," Crang ordered.

"Yes sir," Commander Jub answered, turning to signal Crang's orders to the troops behind him. A detachment of lizard soldiers turned direction and headed back towards the ridge on which Anakin and his troops were advancing.

"Gammons!" Anakin called out to the clone troopers behind him, sensing their presence before they even came into sight over the ridge. The first line of troops all took a knee and raised their large blaster rifles to their shoulders, taking aim and firing at the oncoming troops.

The Gammons took shelter behind the blubbery plant-life, peeking out to fire back whenever they could. A hail of blaster fire erupted as the gap between the two sides closed. Laser blasts hit their targets on both ends, with each Gammon troop that went down being followed by a clone troop. Anakin and Aayla deflected any of the lasers that came near them, but it wasn't enough to protect the whole of their troops. Anakin knew he would have to get behind their line somehow.

All of the sudden, a blaster shot zipped right past him and landed on the ground beside him, right in front of R2-D2. The blast sent Artoo flying into the air, and over the ridge.

"Wrrrrrr!" his high-pitched beeping and whistling could be heard as he flew off away from the battle.

"Artoo!" Anakin cried as he watched his loyal droid companion plummet down into the vast Felucian valley. But Anakin's attention was soon brought back to the battle as a blaster shot hit him squarely in the middle of his lightsaber. Anakin shook himself out of his concern for his droid and back to the battle at hand.

Anakin now stared back at the troops with anger, as his emotion welled up inside him. Obi-Wan was always warning him about his emotions, but the truth was that hen he let his emotions rule, be was a better Jedi than Obi-Wan could ever be, though he would never admit that to his mentor face to face.

Anakin found a small hole in the Gammon's front line and immediately went for it, bursting out with a speed only a Jedi could reach, dodging the blasts that came near him, and finally leapt in the air, making a rolling landing through the front line. Sharply, he sprang up, his lightsaber extending quickly at his guard. The Gammons quickly turned to face this intruder, but he already had most of them down before they would even raise their blaster.

Aayla saw Anakin's distraction and led the clone troopers ahead, firing at the preoccupied Gammons and quickly overtaking the unit.

"We have to hurry," Anakin said, "He must be almost at the base."

And so the troops continued their hunt through the exotic jungle of Felucia.

Crang was almost at the base. The large metal structure stood out like a blight on this living, colourful landscape. The building had two square stories, the smaller one sitting on top of the larger base. Ion cannons sat on the corners of the roofs manned with Gammon soldiers. Before the entrance stood a regiment of battle droids.

Gammon called orders ahead to the base guards, warning them about the incoming attackers. He was meters away from the safety of the base when the Republic forces burst through the blue, transparent foliage suddenly, scattering his immediate guard.

Anakin Skywalker lead the onrush towards Crang with his blue lightsaber out in front. Aayla Secura was right behind him followed by her clone troops. Crang saw that they were going to overtake him an abandoned his flight to the base. He turned his guards around.

"Turn, turn!" he ordered, "We stand here!"

Crang pressed some buttons on each of the metal wrist bands which wrapped around his scaly green arms. After the touch of the buttons, a guard plate came down from the bands to cover both his forearms. The guard plates hummed with a light blue force field.

The opposing groups clashed as Anakin leaped forward to face Crang while Aayla swung her lightsaber around the front of his guard force. Her blue light blade and her blue tendrils both swung in a mad fury.

Anakin hacked his own lightsaber down towards Crang, who blocked the attack with his arm and its electro-guarded plate. Anakin parried again, this time to the side, but Crang bock edit with his other arm, the contact between the blade and the plate sending up sparks.

The droid army guarding the entrance to the Separatist base saw the commotion and marched their way through the jelly-like plants towards them. Aayla saw the battle droids and tried to motion her clones to fire at them.

Anakin continued to chop away at Crang but Crang was a good fighter in his own right. He was able to block each of Anakin's attacks with his arm plates, dodge, and roll away.

"You can't block me forever Crang," Anakin taunted him, "Just give in!"

"Face it Jedi," Crang called back, "You're on the wrong side. The Republic can't stand any longer! It's a weak system!"

"Weak?! I think not!"

With that comment, Anakin lifted off his feet and soared into the air. He rolled himself into a ball as he sailed over top Crang who held his arms up in defense. As Anakin landed on the other side of the Gammon commander, he planted his lightsaber straight into the semi-solid Felucian ground. He landed with such an explosive impact, the ground shook from the force of it and sent a ripple along the earth, causing Crang to get tripped up and fall over onto his back. Before he could gain his sense, the fiery young Jedi was already standing over him with his lightsaber pointed towards his chest.

"Give yourself up Crang," he demanded.

Crang looked around him just in time to see the bulk of the Republic army drive their way through the bulbous plants around them, forcing back the battle droids and his own Gammon troops. The green, black-eyed Jedi Master Fisto led the charge. It was over, he knew. He had been defeated. He looked into the eyes of Anakin Skywalker and nodded his surrender.

Anakin, Aayla and Kit Fisto lead the troops on the march back to the Republic headquarters, leaving a strong contingent of clone troopers at the conquered Separatist base. Behind them Commander Crang was being escorted by the troopers as a prisoner of war.

Crang may have been on opposite sides of Anakin, but Anakin admired him none the less as a great leader and warrior. Crang was not a Sith like Dooku. He was not evil, simply on the wrong side of the war. Anakin looked back at his conquered foe with a hint of respect towards the Gammon leader.

"We'll keep him at our base until we can get a transport to take him to the cells in Coruscant," Aayla said as they walked, "His capture is a great victory, but there are still many other Separatist cells here that need to be flushed out.

"I'm sure you can handle that," Anakin said, "I'm going to need to try and find Obi-Wan. Wherever he is Dooku will be there also. Oh and If you could, keep your eyes open for Artoo? That droid's always getting himself into trouble, but I'm sure he'll show up again."

"Of course," Aayla smiled as they approached the Republic camp, victoriously leading in their prize hostage.


	7. Chapter 7: Hoth

**Chapter 7**

Landing in a winter storm is never easy, as Obi-Wan found out trying to place his starfighter on the icy Hoth surface. He looked outside the cockpit to see drifting snow flying past at blistering speeds. The Republic Gunship had landed a few yards behind him containing Shaak Ti and fourteen clone troopers.

"Well, here goes nothing," Obi-Wan mumbled as he opened the cockpit dome and hopped out into the blizzard conditions, wrapping his tan-coloured cloak around him.

He ran straight for the gunship and hopped inside, shaking the snow out of his thick, brown hair.

"Brrrr. Why couldn't Dooku have chosen a more hospitable planet to lead us to?" he complained as the red-faced, double-horned Master Ti met him on the gunship deck.

"Do we have winter gear on this thing?" he asked the clone commander.

"Yes sir."

"Good we're going to need it."  
"Our radar is showing a ship about ten miles off," Shaak Ti informed him.

"Unfortunately if we take our ships they'll detect us coming," Obi-Wan groaned, "I guess we're going to have to walk. Terrific."

Obi-Wan led the party through the blistering snow towards the radar signal. R4 trailed along behind him with ice freezing to his metallic dome. Shaak Ti was next, followed by the dozen Republic soldiers. They walked single file across the white terrain as the wind pummeled them with snow blowing from the great, white dunes ahead.

Suddenly a huge gust of wind hit them, sending an almost solid wall of snow right into their line. The blizzard slammed into them with full force.

"Brace yourselves!!" Obi-Wan cried out, trying to be heard over the howl of the wind.

As the wind hit, R4 was knocked over immediately and planted into the snow below. Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti both positioned themselves in stances which gave them ultimate control over their balance, keeping them in place. A few of the clone troopers crouched low to shield themselves from the blowing snow while some were caught off guard and were actually picked up and tossed into the air.

Once the brief gale subsided a little, Obi-Wan lifted his head to check on everyone else. Shaak Ti helped him dislodge his astromech droid from the snow and they accounted for all of the clone troopers except one. They took a few moments to search the area around them but they could see nothing and he never responded to their calls. They decided to keep moving.

Eventually the storm calmed down and they were able to see where they were going rather than blindly following the trace of the radar signal. There was a large hill of ice ahead. R4's read-out said that the ship they were tracking was right on the other side.

As they began up the hill, Obi-Wan was suddenly taken back with a start as he heard a strange sound and saw something rush over the hill towards them. It was a creature. It had white fur covering its body. It ran on two strong hind legs with two limping arms in front. Its face was ugly and equine with horns curving sideways around his face to his muzzle. Soon after that once came bonding over the ice, another followed, then a third, and then more. It was a pack of nine altogether.

The creatures made strange bellowing noises as they stampeded past Obi-Wan and his party, veering off the other way.

"Tauntauns," the Republic commander informed them, looking at the read-out from R4's database, "Local wildlife, sometimes captured for riding purposes."

"Disgusting creatures," Obi-Wan commented as he turned back to the direction they were heading.

As they trudged across the snow-covered plains, Hoth's distant sun began to set and chilled the temperature even more. A terrifying call of some wild creature was heard in the distance.

"I love discovering new planets,' Obi-Wan grumbled as he brought his cloak up to cover his frost-bitten face.

"Wait, listen," Shaak Ti whispered, holding her arm out to signal Obi-Wan to stop. The troopers behind them also paused.

"Yeah, I heard the beastly call too," Obi-Wan said.

"No, not the creature. Something… metallic.," she answered.

Obi-Wan listened harder until he could hear it too. It sounded like a large walking machine coming closer towards them. The metallic crunching noises resonated through the cold and bitter air, increasing as it approached.

"Take cover," Obi-wan ordered.

The group found two ice boulders nearby and hurried over to hide behind it. Luckily the blowing wind and hurrying darkness hid the tracks behind them. Obi-wan peeked around one of the ice boulders to get a better look.

The sky around them had turned into a dark, twilight blue and the stars in the sky above sparkled above the glossy white snow dunes. Climbing over one of these dunes was a tall, bipedal machine with two large laser cannons sticking out like arms. A battle droid sat in the cockpit controlling the legs of this walking vehicle. The crunching of the snow underneath its heavy feet rang out into the air.

"A T-90 Battle Walker," Shaak Ti whispered to him, "Separatist patrol vehicles. They must have a base on this planet."

Obi-Wan watched silently as the walker continued on its path ahead. Tension gripped them as they waited for the walker to pass out of sight, hoping that whatever was left of their tracks would not be seen. After what seemed like an age, the walker climbed over the next snow ridge and disappeared out of sight.

"Remain alert. If the separatists are indeed on this planet, they may have more than patrols which can cause us problems," Obi-Wan suggested as he motioned for them to keep moving.

They continued marching through the crisp snow fields, fourteen figures moving silently in the arctic night. The icy horizon gleamed from the reflected starlight. Only once did they need to pause, crouching low as two more Battle Walkers passed in the distance.

Soon they reached their destination and found Dooku's ship. It was parked silent and still in the middle of a frozen valley. Obi-Wan and the others espied it from the top of a snow drift as R4 carried out a scan of the ship. He beeped and whistled as Obi-Wan read the digital read-out.

"R4 says that there is one life form on board. He's not picking up any active droids," he relayed to the others.

"Do you think its Dooku?" Shaak Ti asked him.

"No, I doubt we're that lucky," Obi-Wan moaned, "I have a bad feeling about this. But we should make sure."

They crept their way down the bank towards the seed-shaped Solar Sailor, whose golden coverings glistened in the moonlight. The clone troopers held their blasters up in assault position as they approached the opened ramp. Obi-Wan entered the ship first, lightsaber in hand, followed by Master Ti and the troopers.

Obi-Wan and the troopers searched the ship until they reached the cockpit where they found their missing companion whom they lost in the brief blizzard. The clone trooper was tied up and mumbling through the gag he had tied around his mouth.

Obi-Wan's face dropped with disappointment as he realized that he had been duped. "It's a trick. Out of the ship, now!"

The troopers piled out of the ship on their general's word, only to find company waiting for them. Obi-Wan ran out behind his unit and saw what they saw. The entire ship was encircled by battle droids, destroyer droids, and battle walkers. They were surrounded with dozens of blasters pointed in their direction. And standing directly across from them was Viceroy Gunray and Count Dooku himself.

"Master Kenobi," Dooku gloated, "It seems as though I have you without your trusted partner. I strongly recommend that you surrender peacefully."


End file.
